Somerset Fullhopes on Semis Match

Somerset captain hopeful

Somerset captain Alfonso Thomas said on Wednesday that his team was poised to do well in the remainder of the Champions League.

“There is room for improvement and we don't want to peak too early. I think our fielding can sharpen up a bit more. We are certainly hitting the straps now. Nobody gave us a chance and we did well and that shows the character of this team,” he said after Somerset defeated Warriors by 12 runs here on Wednesday night and qualified for the semifinal. 

Thomas said that he opted to bat first as chasing in a high-stakes game could get tough. “In a game like this if you can get a score on the board, it was always going to be difficult to chase it down keeping in mind that there is a lot at stake — a place in the semifinal. But when I saw Peter Trego get out to Lonwabo Tsotsobe with a bit of bounce I thought it might have been a better idea to bowl! As the game went on, it kept on turning, a couple of balls gripped, turned and bounced and I always thought that batting first is the way to go and I felt the slower bowlers will do the job for us and that's what they did. We probably got a par score but we were 10 runs shorter but we made up in the field,” the Somerset skipper said and also praised Craig Kieswetter's (56 n.o.) effort with the bat. 

Warriors captain Johan Botha gave credit to the way Somerset played. “This wasn't the best Bangalore wicket we have ever seen. But yes Kieswetter played well for Somerset and showed his class. The wicket was almost like the Chennai one in the sense that once you were behind the (required) rate, it was difficult to catch up. But you got to give credit to the way they bowled, especially Alfonso Thomas. They controlled the middle period better than us and the rate got tougher and that happens often when you are batting second,” Botha said.